


now look at the lights, the lights

by starvedsaint



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Music, Fluff, Holding Hands, M/M, Meet-Cute, i go feral over christmas lights, i know it works but. is it correct, someone tell me how i did with the modal verbs etc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starvedsaint/pseuds/starvedsaint
Summary: Eddie’s not yelling right now because he’s looking at the Christmas lights, and Richie’s looking at him and he thinks he might have fallen in love with his best friend.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 8
Kudos: 58
Collections: IT Fandom Secret Santa 2019





	now look at the lights, the lights

**Author's Note:**

> incoherent? maybe. made me squeal while writing it? yep. also i know its not 2000 words but uni hit me like a truck so. hope it works still

He’s small and he’s a little spooked. He didn’t want to go to kindergarten anyway.

But he’s here. He doesn’t feel very good about it but there are other kids here - and _they_ don’t look afraid - and he’s not about to be the black sheep. So he does the first thing that comes to mind and puts a yellow crayon in his mouth, because apparently that’s what Richie’s brain considers inconspicuous. 

"What do you have in your mouth?"

The stern voice apparently belongs not to a teacher but to a small boy about his age. Richie gives him an innocent look. The boy frowns. How can Richie even see his face the light is directly behind him-

"What? What’s in your mouth?"

Well, if he insists. Richie sheepishly takes the crayon out of his mouth and offers it to him. The boy screeches. _Great first interaction, Rich._

The boy - Eddie, as he learned when the teacher had to come tell him to quiet down - apparently doesn’t find him too disgusting to be around. He yells Richie’s ears off about how _crayons are poisonous what were you even thinking_ and _you’ll get sick_ and then grabs him by the arm and sits him down and gives him his apple ("so you don’t try to eat something dangerous again") and Richie is baffled.

The next day he has to drag Eddie away from where he was yelling at some poor unsuspecting kid whose terrible offence was dropping a piece of candy on the floor and not picking it up. He’s still baffled, but now he thinks he might have made a friend.

* * *

Eddie’s not yelling right now because he’s looking at the Christmas lights, and Richie’s looking at him and he thinks he might have fallen in love with his best friend.

They’re roaming around town, weaving through crowds and looking at Christmas decorations. It’s cold, and they’re all bundled up, and Eddie has a hat complete with a pompom on top and he looks so _cute_. Richie doesn’t have a hat (or gloves or scarf) because he’s Richie, and also because he maybe wanted Eddie to fret over him a little. He might have miscalculated, though, because Eddie took one look at him and immediately wrapped his own scarf around Richie’s neck and up to his nose. So now he’s wrapped up in Eddie’s scarf and blushing furiously because _who does that_ and _he did that, he did that **for me**_ and _that’s so cute_ , and Richie’s poor heart is going to burst.

As the beginning chords of some cute song start to play from somewhere down the street, Richie gets an urge to touch, so he gently bumps their shoulders together. Eddie gives him an annoyed look, but presses closer to him anyway. The lights form a halo of gold around his head, glimmering directly into Richie’s eyes, but he can still see him smile a little. ( _Or maybe you just have his face memorized,_ sing-songs his brain, stacking a million identical images of Eddie on top of each other.) He grins back.

Then they find themselves in a small crowd, having to walk one behind the other, and as Eddie steps boldly forward to pave their way through, he reaches back and takes Richie’s hand.

Richie’s heart stutters in his throat. And threatens to leap out and into Eddie’s pocket when they get through and he doesn’t let go.

He lets out a soft "Eds". It sounds a lot like "I love you".

Eddie looks up, and they just gaze at each other for a moment, until someone brushes past and both of them tighten their grip.

Richie takes a leap of faith and slowly entwines their fingers, gently pressing his bare skin against the knitting of Eddie’s glove. Eddie smiles, eyes shining brighter than the lights around them, and mutters "Don’t call me Eds."

It sounds a lot like "I love you too". 


End file.
